POETRY JAM
asks us to remember childhood games
VINTAGE FUN
I was unsophisticated;
Things I loved were rather tame.
Paper dollies brought great pleasure;
Dressing them, my favourite game.
I had hundreds I'd collected
And I'd sit up in my bed,
Playing with them hour by hour,
Making-up the words they said.
All of them had names assigned them,
Different outfits day by day;
They had friendships, they had quarrels,
Both at school and out to play.
How the little tabs of paper
Fitted round to make them fit!
How I'd soon manipulate them,
Forcing them to bend and sit!
Dresses just like Shirley Temple's
Were, of course, the most admired;
When the shops displayed new numbers
These just had to be acquired.
Little girls of this new era
Would find my paper dolls 'uncool';
Everything is electronic;
Grandma must have been a fool.
But the harmless story-telling,
Trained our brains and satisfied.
What was the date (I can't remember)
When the Paper Dollies died?
*
---------------------------------------------------------------
THE WRASTLE
Three little boys and one pink shirt!
And Grandma saying 'You'll soon get hurt!'
While babies love to coo and nestle,
Lively boys like to fight and wrestle.
When we see lion cubs at play,
We see all 'cubs' behave this way.
Harry's on top but not for long.
Blake's underneath; he must be strong!
Max is about to land on his head.
Once more Grandma's filled with dread.
Shrieks of laughter fill the house.
And once we were quieter than a mouse!
The house is small; it's full of noise.
Full of happy little boys.
We tend to think there's too much riot.
*
But we hate it when the house goes quiet.
*
11 comments:
This tweaked my memory as well! I loved paper dolls, spent hours with them. I even sometimes made my OWN clothes for these paper dolls or cut 'families' out of old catalogs. I bet my granddaughter would like them. (They would also be good for learning cutting skills!)But you're right..they are nowhere to be found.
I've been lucky enough to come across paper dolls a couple of times for my own daughter and she just loved them! There's just something about them that really takes us back to an easier, simpler time.
And I have to agree with you, there's just something about a houseful of boys carrying on and raising a ruckus! That last line is so sad though!
Two wonderful poems, thanks so much for sharing them!
paper dolls are pretty cool...even from a boy perspective....i figure it gave the opportunity for imagination, which is something sadly now our kids lack...
My paper doll was "Milly The Model" ... I spent hour upon hour designing for her. Great training for the seamstress/designer I became.
Oh I remember paper dolls. So much fun! And I loved your second poem about a house "full of happy little boys". My house is like that today:)I'm enjoying it, but will also love it when the house goes quiet again - not till Sunday night though, ack!
I love both of this delightful poems of paper dolls when we were young, and boisterous boys like little cubs. Lovely.
Ah yes those little boys are so like lion cubs. Good way to think of it. LOL I have not thought of playing with paper dolls for a long time. I had a friend with quite a collection and so envied the lovely outfits her paper dolls had. I remember it being a big deal when I could confidently cut them out myself.
Both are just wonderful poems! Paper dolls... I used to cut up the old JC Penney and Sears catalogs ;)
Love The Wrastle --as a mom of boys I totally get it! Fun read, thanks!
When I was a young girl, all I had was one doll. Well, I imagined dressing her up, though there were no spare dresses. But, I combed her hair and tied a pony...:-) Nice poem to remind me.
You have a new fan here! These two poems are smooth as honey. One introspective, the other observant, both truthful and not a word interrupts the flow.
I too had paper dolls, some very old ones from Germany and modern (1950s) too. I would design clothes for them, working on shapes my Mother(the real artist) cut out of paper.
To switch from that solitary amusement to the boys' skirmish is a fine show of dexterity yourself. Grandma is certainly a very good writer!
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